Venturi Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 656 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PEGA. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 5.0% during the second quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,099 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,744 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,306 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 8,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.23, for a total value of $673,234.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,172.28. This trade represents a 18.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total value of $43,824.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,093 shares of company stock worth $3,042,389. 50.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $86.55 on Friday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.07 and a 1-year high of $91.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.18 and a beta of 1.06.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. Pegasystems’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities raised Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.90.

Pegasystems Company Profile

Pegasystems Inc develops, markets, licenses, hosts, and supports enterprise software in the United States, rest of the Americas, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company provides Pega Infinity, a software portfolio comprising of Pega Customer Decision Hub, a real-time AI-powered decision engine to enhance customer acquisition and experiences across inbound, outbound, and paid media channels; Pega Customer Service to anticipate customer needs, connect customers to people and systems, and automate customer interactions to evolve the customer service experience, as well as to allow enterprises to deliver interactions across channels and enhance employee productivity; and Pega Platform, an intelligent automation software for increasing efficiency of clients’ processes and workflows.